7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
Two cops must find $100 million in stolen heroin before their department is shut down.
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Téa Leoni, Tchéky Karyo, Theresa RandleAction | 100% |
Thriller | 52% |
Crime | 37% |
Comedy | 9% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
movieIQ
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Now back up, put the gun down, and give me a pack of Tropical Fruit Bubblicious.
Has it really been 15 years? Oh how time flies, just like Michael Bay's swooping camerawork. The
director known for putting the "motion" in "motion pictures" has racked up the megabucks for
several studios with a string of summer successes. Disney's Armageddon made the
end of the world into a glossy magazine spread come to life and The Rock has nestled
itself near the top of the Action movie heap. Paramount's Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen have been critically drubbed, but critics' words fell on deaf ears to the tune of well
over $1.5 billion earned worldwide between the two pictures. Sony is home to Michael Bay's first
feature
picture, the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence Buddy Cop/Action/Comedy hybrid Bad
Boys and, with Bad Boys II, the
director's first franchise. Bay impressed with his frenetic visual style from the get-go, constructing
a film in Bad Boys that's one of the defining Action pictures of the 1990s where fast, slick,
and uptempo
replaced the larger-than-life shoot-em-ups of the 1980s. Bad Boys earned Sony a cool
$65.6 million and propelled Michael Bay to A-list status. Fifteen years later, his films look and
sound pretty much the same, but Bad Boys still holds up as one of his best all-around
achievements.
Close-up Boys.
Bad Boys rolls onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer that's vastly superior to any previously-released home video version of the film, but it's not within striking distance of the top catalogue outputs that have recently been released on the format. Bad Boys is a product of the 1990s, and the film's somewhat dim appearance captures the decade's prevalent look. The transfer is marred but the occasional scratch and speckle and a few light halos, but it also retains a grain structure that fluctuates between light and moderate throughout the movie. Fine detail isn't as eye-popping as one might expect; many scenes are quite dark, and blacks often overwhelm the image and mask finer details in the darker recesses of the screen. Still, this Blu-ray delivers a marked improvement in many areas; viewers will note fine skin textures in close-ups, for instance. Image clarity also enjoys a bump; it's very easy to read "Sig Sauer" on the slide of Lowery's pistol in one shot. Colors are slightly faded and a bit warm but stable and seemingly reflective of the picture's intended appearance. Bad Boys' Blu-ray transfer certainly isn't going to turn heads, but fans should enjoy the upgrade to this stable, film-like, but rough-around-the-edges 1080p offering from Sony.
Bad Boys makes its long-anticipated Blu-ray debut with a mixed-bag DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Like the movie, Bad Boys' soundtrack is loud and big but not entirely polished. Mark Mancina's (Con Air) score blares from the speakers with a grand flair; it's thick, heavy, and strong with a hefty rear-channel accompaniment but is absent the crystal-clear and true-to-life sound that complements the better Blu-ray soundtracks. A club scene in chapter 10, likewise, delivers a strong, bellowing low end and a much-appreciated surround speaker presence to nicely engulf the listener in the moment, but it, again, is minus that crystal-clear sensation that brings the best tracks to life. Gunshots and a few explosions are loud but mushy, not lacking in power but certainly lacking in clarity; ditto a garbage truck that crashes through a building in one scene or most any loud and powerful sound in the film. Dialogue is generally fine, though it, too, suffers from a lack of crispness and occasionally sounds slightly off-balance. Bad Boys lacks sheer clarity but it's not a bad listen; though it's more about raw power than nuanced precision, listeners should still find plenty to enjoy as the movie rolls along.
Sony brings Bad Boys to Blu-ray with but a few extras. First is an audio commentary track with Director Michael Bay. Bay delivers a highly listenable, entertaining, and wonderfully informative track. He discusses the dynamic charisma of Smith and Lawrence, the weaknesses of the script, real-world events that influenced certain plot points in the film, the picture's light and easy tone, character improvs, the casting process and working with two comedians, and much more. Like Bay's films or not, there's no denying that he delivers some of the best commentary tracks around. This one's a fascinating listen from start to finish, and it's hard not to like Bay -- based on his persona in the track -- after giving his commentary a try. Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys (4801, 23:54) primarily looks at the film's weapons and many pyrotechnic special effects seen throughout the movie. Also included are the music videos (480i) "Five O, Five O (Here They Come)" by 69 Boyz (3:11), "Shy Guy" by Diana King (4:34), and "So Many Ways" by Warren G (3:26); BD-Live functionality; Sony's MovieIQ connectivity; and 1080p trailers for Casino Royale, Men in Black, Ghostbusters, Hancock, Armored, Harry Brown, Wild Things: Foursome, Unthinkable, The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, Youth in Revolt, and Black Dynamite.
Bad Boys looks good, sounds good, and captures that 1990s Action movie spirit to perfection, but all the spit-and-polish, humor, and action can't mask that the story is a complete retread of similar films past. At least don't go with the whole drug angle for the umpteenth time, which, of course, was the plot device once again utilized in Bad Boys II. No matter, the movie's all about style and action anyway. Michael Bay takes care of those aspects in fine fashion, and Martin Lawrence and Will Smith take care of keeping the audience relatively happy when they don't have their guns in someone's face or making stuff explode. For as thematically generic as it is, Bad Boys is still a primo example of 1990s Action filmmaking and the springboard for Michael Bay's career, the latter point one that movie fans may use as the ultimate barometer with which to judge the relevancy of the film, those who love Bay's work lauding its status as the cinematic birthplace of "Bayhem," and those that loathe the director seeing the movie as the roots from which sprung forth many a rapes of childhood memories when the Transformers films rolled out into theaters. Either way, Bad Boys is on Blu-ray, and while it's not a technical standout, Sony's latest release boasts a good -- not great -- high definition presentation and a handful of extras. Bad Boys is worth a purchase, particularly for those with well-worn DVD copies waiting to be replaced.
Mastered in 4K
2003
1988
IMAX Enhanced
2020
Extended Edition
2011
2009
1992
1989
2013
Extended Cut
2013
Bastille Day
2016
2013
1995
2015
Extreme Cut
2009
2003
1998
2001
20th Anniversary Edition
2001
2014
2008